A Rope from Above: at Pearl Harbor

Copyright © 2022 Frank Bland.

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ISBN: 978-1-4897-4450-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-4451-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-4452-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022918605

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 01/05/2024

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1   Unveiling the Past

Chapter 2   Early on Sunday Morning

Chapter 3   Live or Die

Chapter 4   Continued Discrimination

Chapter 5   Getting Away from War

Chapter 6   Back on Board the USS Mugford

Chapter 7   USS Dobbin

Chapter 8   Dorie Miller’s Heroism

Chapter 9   Honorable Mention to Those Who Served

Chapter 10  The Negro in the Navy

Chapter 11  Service on Ships, Submarines, and Ashore

Chapter 12  In Closing

About the Author

Bibliography

PREFACE

This book captures the challenging times in my father’s life before and during World War II. Thanks to God’s majesty and grace, the humble epiphanies in these recollections are now in print. A blend of sources from this period reinforced the conditions, standards, and circumstances. Once Dad started talking, he would share history about unforeseen encounters in and out of combat, including the emotional state he could recall. Although often shocking, his revealing testimonies would close with grateful tears of joy from those listening.

My goal is not to minimize or distort his wartime experiences or to aim at specific people, places, or entities. It is essential to expose the richness of a victorious life, despite the dire conditions and graphic descriptions at the hands of death during the war years, by making the truth known.

The current age cannot and will not erase the truth, which is meant for future generations to understand in its entirety.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Throughout this journey, inspiration came from my loving wife, parents, grandparents, and others who have now entered the celestial realm. Thanks to Ms. Shore (seventh-grade science teacher), Dr. Morris (college adviser), Mr. Pollard (mentor), Major General Chambers, Reverend Dr. Woodson, and many others who imparted knowledge and understanding. Gratitude and appreciation to the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, for the many years of camaraderie and fellowship they shared with my dad.

Gratitude to Jon, SFC Retired, US Army combat medic, for sharing daily words of inspiration without ceasing. Jon shared the following experience:

Several years ago, a wounded soldier once said while enemy bullets were flying around us to prepare some lemonade amid a combat firefight in a foreign location. While showing a degree of calmness, I noticed his hands [were] saturated in blood. As a combat medic, the questions were asked, "Where does it hurt, what are you talking about, and what do you see in the sky, man? This soldier’s eyes were so intense at that moment he could look through concrete.

The soldier said calmly, When life provides lemons, just make some lemonade, dude, as he grinned at me, even though I was also heavily drenched in sweat, tears, and blood. He broke loose, jumped up from the stretcher and took off running into combat. I never saw him again. No matter where we find ourselves, we are always grateful for the messengers God sends us to get us through the tribulation.

INTRODUCTION

This book is to inspire, to be a source of hope, and to show how the dazzling light of almighty God reigns supreme in horrible combat situations. While attending church in North Carolina as a kid, my dad began to see how God makes a way out of no pathway. As believers in Him, dreams of traveling the world, meeting people he’d never met and discovering various cultures were on the horizon. This book is dedicated to the military service of family members, friends and veterans who helped to keep our nation and its people safe with truth and justice.

Imagine, as a teenager, only being able to view yourself in a box for the rest of your life and being constrained to being around people who looked only like you. Consider going back to a period when this nation and its citizens behaved differently from how they do now. How about reading the incredible, largely forgotten, and unrecognized adventures of an African American US Navy sailor?

George Bland joined the US Navy on July 19, 1940, following his graduation from Williston High School in Wilmington, North Carolina, which was segregated by law. He served in the navy honorably until his release on August 22, 1946. As a nineteen-year-old messman sailor aboard the USS West Virginia, he found himself at the start of World War II on a Sunday morning in 1941. The world has never been the same since that dreadful day, as we must either accept now or realize it later.

Before and during the World War, my father served in the US Navy as a mess steward/waiter/cook second class. After boot camp, his first assignment, as a mess steward, was on the battleship the USS Mississippi, which was stationed in Pearl Harbor. By mid-1941, he was reassigned to the USS West Virginia. After the sinking of the West Virginia on December 7, 1941, orders assigned him to a destroyer, the USS Mugford. This destroyer and many others of several classes and grades became known as the Greyhounds. Combat on these fast movers was constant and ferocious. It is hard to imagine how the crews survived. Later, near the war’s end, he was assigned to a destroyer tender, the USS Dobbin, still in the Pacific Theater of operations. Seeing and surviving these life-changing circumstances led to an epiphany for him.

It was life-altering for me to hear of the trials, tribulations, and victories that used derogatory language, which mirrored the prejudices and attitudes of the time. With this book, I hope to motivate readers to understand how limited goals can be changed to produce outstanding outcomes. I encourage readers to begin or continue their ancestor—heroes and heroines—research. Whatever generation to which the ancestor belonged—the Greatest Generation or any other—no his-story or her-story will be mentioned in textbooks, archives, or mainstream media. It continues to be a never-ending quest to find more records, ship logs, and other pieces of information on him or her and other African American WWII service members.

There is much more to learn from and about our ancestors’ sacrifices in many parts of the country where there are few or no records. We should never forget how America was saved from oblivion during this turbulent period by we, the people. We must all stand on common ground to learn from the past, so as not to repeat the tragedies of yesterday.

In my younger years, Dad never talked much about his time in the navy. He came within inches of death many times during the war, but that was a very huge mystery to our family. According to our 104-year-old aunt, when Dad erupted into a rage at times, it was because he was shell shocked from the war. This unknown part about my dad lived in a place of intrigue for me. As the years progressed, he would provide short stories and limited viewing through his so-called porthole to the navy. As a treat, we received complimentary VIP seats from the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association to view a sneak preview of the movie Pearl Harbor, released in 2001. This book is dedicated to why dad was unable and refused to sit through the entire film. It didn’t take too long after viewing some of the horrific and realistic attack scenes on the morning of December 7, 1941, that I witnessed a change in my father. As we sat on emotional edge with the movie theater’s amplifiers screaming out the pinging of bullets, explosions, and screams, dad started sweating abundantly. I wondered what was happening to my father as he wiped his forehead continuously and started coughing without ceasing. At this point being concerned for his health, we stepped out into the theater lobby to get fresh air and a soda to calm it down. Moments later, dad was adamant about not seeing another scene from this realistic movie and demanded that I take him home now. I didn’t debate with him; we simply left the movie theater. I will never forget the silence and the look on his face as I drove him home. What had just happened would trigger this level of emotion. Searching for documents, reports, news articles, and other information can shed light on this era’s quest for truth. There is an active force at work to remove the truth from our society today, as if it never existed. This is the story of a black sailor boy, as he sometimes was called during his time in the Pacific Theatre of World War II.

According to my research, this country has shown little appreciation for the African American sailor, marine, soldier, airmen, coast guard, WAC, or others who have proven their fidelity anywhere and every time, despite the many dangers. Let the record speak to those who dispute it.

Ask yourself this question: are we living amid a second Pearl Harbor? Ironically, there has been a glaring reluctance to admit we have sunken battleships, literally or metaphorically, in the harbor of our democracy, just like on that fateful December 7, 1941. Sadly, America is hesitant to admit it, believing the fictitious point that it will just fade away. Facts reveal that incompetence endangers lives and costs our country disgraceful and unnecessary losses. People in this country and worldwide must stand to fight ignorance and evil in whatever positive, spiritually uplifting transformational form it may take. The space between intelligence and ignorance is to think critically with a never-ending thirst for truth.

The reality is apparent only if you, the reader, choose to accept it. We must speak our accounts of the truth as we know it! It’s as simple as that, making it plain. Please do not take this statement lightly. My fundamental mission is to share the truthful history revealed by a generation not found in libraries or textbooks. Look closely around this nation. Civics and history classes are being removed in our schools under the guise of freeing our young people to focus on more important subjects. Alert: we have raised two generations of Americans who cannot name the three branches of government, much less understand the meaning of the